Duo Admits Cool Valley Murder

ST. LOUIS - Two drug dealers on Thursday admitted shooting an 18-year-old at a gas station in 2023.

Christopher "Face" Hall, 25, and Bryant "BJ" Pirtle, 23, pleaded guilty in separate hearings in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime resulting in death.

According to their plea agreements, in the late evening of Jan. 28, 2023, Pirtle and Hall cruised around St. Louis City and County in a 2017 Honda Accord, selling marijuana. Around 3 a.m. on January 29, they stopped at a gas station in the 1700 block of South Florissant Road. Inside the station, Pirtle offered the victim marijuana and told him to meet him at the waiting Honda outside. The victim left the store and walked to the Honda with $20. After some discussion, the victim turned and walked away. Hall then got out of the driver's seat of the Accord and the duo simultaneously opened fire, fatally wounding the victim. While fleeing the station, Hall ran the victim over and later bragged about doing so in text messages.

During an unrelated arrest later, police seized Pirtle's iPhone and gray Lacoste backpack, which matched the phone and backpack seen on gas station surveillance camera video the night of the murder.

On March 10, 2023, Hall, Pirtle and several others were arrested in an apartment in St. Louis County with five guns, a significant amount of marijuana and three scales. Police also conducted a court-approved search of Hall's house and found marijuana, plastic baggies and firearm accessories.

On March 22, 2023, St. Louis County Anti-Gang Unit detectives arrested Pirtle with a black AM-15 semiautomatic rifle loaded with 32 rounds and distribution quantities of marijuana. Along with drug paraphernalia and two scales, Pirtle had $4,543 in the glove box.

The 9mm Beretta handgun that Hall used to shoot the victim was seized by the St. Louis County Police Department in an unrelated stop on July 9, 2024.

Both men are scheduled to be sentenced on January 20. The charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the St. Louis County Police Department and the Normandy Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nino Przulj and Jen Szczucinski are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the Department of Justice's nationwide initiative that brings federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, prosecutors, and other public safety partners together to coordinate efforts to combat violent crime and make communities safe. Coordinated by U.S. Attorneys' offices in each of the 94 federal districts, PSN is tailored to particular communities to strategically address specific violent crime and public safety challenges. As a key component of Operation Take Back America, PSN serves a central role in the Department's commitment to make our country safe. PSN emphasizes three core principles: rapid federal response to violent crime and criminal offenders; strong, strategic partnerships among law enforcement at all levels; and accountability and deterrence through the prosecution of the most serious, readily provable offenses and other strategies. These efforts complement and strengthen President Trump's Homeland Security Task Forces, ensuring a comprehensive federal response to the most pressing public safety issues facing communities.